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Hall, and there deliver the lectures to them all together. But in practice, there seem to be many objections to such a course. Besides others having relation to the discipline of the different schools, and the difficulty of getting the pupils to attend, it was pointed out, and with much reason, that children are much more likely to assimilate lectures given by their own teacher, who will rehearse the main points on the next day, than if they had merely listened to a lecture from a stranger, who was quite unacquainted with the amount of knowledge his audience already possessed.

46. Table IX. gives the approximate dates during which the lanterns were in use, and the schools that used them. They comprise all the important schools with exception of Queen's College and the District Schools. I may say that as regards the District Schools, I was willing to forgo the privilege on their behalf, because I then believed that the pupils would have an opportunity to hear the lectures by going to Queen's College in after years.

47. In Table IX. B* is given the arrangement under which, judging from present experience, the use of the lanterns can most fairly be apportioned.

48. The lanterns and slides are all that could be desired, and the lectures contain very much valuable information. It is generally agreed that they are too long for pupils who have not been home, and for whom hardly anything can be taken as known. It is no criticism on the printed lectures to say, that the less slavishly they were adhered to, the better were the results. The lecturer at the Diocesan School gives an account of the interesting variation he made. Mr. Garrett, who kindly undertook to give the course at the Kowloon School, and whose knowledge of London is extensive, gave a course which was quite original, and which proved most interesting to the pupils and also to their parents, who attended in considerable numbers. A very good course was given at St. Joseph's College.

49. The cost of maintenance and expenses of an incidental nature have together amounted in the year to $49-20.

50. In Appendix C are given extracts from reports kindly furnished by Messrs. Garrett and Brawn, together with some interesting remarks by the Headmistress of the Belilios School. In Appendix D* are examination papers set at the request of the Trustees of Belilios Trust II., who gave prizes of the value of $10 for the best paper done by the pupils of each of the following schools:-Diocesan School, Boys: Diocesan School, Girls; Fairlea; Victoria School; Kowloon School. In Appendix E* are some of the answers to these questions. They have been selected, not on account of their intrinsic merit, but as showing the assistance which the lectures may give to pupils by helping them to realise the real nature of places which they have never seen, and the beauty and dignity of England.

Education Department,

28th February, 1907.

*

EDWARD A. IRVING,

Inspector of Schools.

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From the results obtained in the examination, and from general observations made in the course of delivering the lectures, I am confident that visual instruction of this nature, is likely to form a most valuable means of education. I would submit, however, two points which seem worthy of consideration.

The difficulty of assembling children at a suitable hour. It is impossible

to darken the room during the day time sufficiently for the purpose of using a lantern; and in the case of children living at a distance, the earliest time at which it was possible to commence the lectures, viz., 6.15, involves no small inconvenience.

2. The difficulty of taking any notes during the lectures. In the case of my lectures, they were purely extempore, as I merely used the book as a guide to the slides. Consequently many of the students missed valuable points, which would not have been the case had they been able to take notes. Viewing these facts, I should venture to suggest that some form of shaded lamp be provided, which with- out lessening the effect of the lantern would be sufficiently clear to see to write by.

II. REPORT by Mr. A. O. BRAWN on the Course given to the Diocesan Schools and Fairlea.

I have given 13 lectures to the above schools, and am satisfied that the pupils' interest in the home land has been aroused and their knowledge of it has considerably increased. These I take it are the objects of the lantern lectures. My satisfaction is based upon the letters I have received, and the eagerness with which the children looked forward to the lectures. I have a few comments to make upon the slides, arrangement of lectures, exercises for the pupils, and the working of the lantern.

1. Slides are splendid, but a view of Hong Kong Harbour would advertise its shipping importance better than Queen's Road. A picture of the Black Country at night would be impressive, and a view of a canal would reveal another aspect of English life.

2. Arrangement seems nearly perfect, though it requires two lectures to each section, and two successive lectures on English scenery followed by two on historic centres are rather tedious to children. So important and interesting a river as the Thames deserves a lecture to itself. So after two lectures voyaging to England, and two in seeing the sights of London, I took the children up the Thames to its source, thereby using in addition to the slides on the Thames in Section III. some from Section IV. relating to Windsor, Eton, and Oxford, some from Section V. relating to the Cotswolds, and one from Section VI. relating to Huntley and Palmers, Reading.

In addition to giving the scholars a good impression of the Thames, I was thus enabled to reduce the number of lectures on scenery and historic centres to one each. My lectures were, therefore, grouped thus:-

1. Hong Kong to Egypt.

2. Egypt to London.

3. London.

4. London.

5. Thames.

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

C.O.

Reference :-

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Appendix C.

I.-REPORT by Mr. H. L. GARRETT, B.A., on the Visual Instruction Course given at Kowloon School.

During the past seven weeks I have delivered lectures as outlined in the hand- book supplied. The apparatus has on the whole worked well. The attendance has been mainly confined to the senior scholars, though a limited number of friends have been present.

At the conclusion of the course I held an examination of the senior students- 14 in number, with the following results. Eight students passed, and six were failures, though the papers of the latter were not altogether without merit. I also held an oral examination among the junior students who attended, and was much pleased with their answers, which showed intelligence and interest in the subject.

As a general criticism of the written examination may state that there was

a general tendency to rambling answers, not directly related to the questions.

6. Scenery.

7. Historic centres.

8. Country, town, and village life.

9. Agriculture.

10. Mining and manufactures.

11. Navy.

12. Army.

13. Résumé.

As a means of recapitulation and of adding vividness to the lectures, I found it an excellent practice to direct the pupils to write letters, addressed from the stop- ping place of the previous lecture, describing to me their imaginary travels. I thus received letters addressed from Shepherds' Hotel, Cairo, Hotel Cecil, Cock Inn, Chipping Campden, &c. In working the lantern special note should be taken that the cells are not more than half filled with carbide to allow for its swelling, and that there is not a speck of dust in the burners.

• Not reprinted.